


Something As Sweet As You

by tigersparade



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: F/F, coffeeshopAU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:35:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,245
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28445511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigersparade/pseuds/tigersparade
Summary: All Sana wants to do is get closer to the cute barista at the coffee shop. She doesn't even like coffee all that much.
Relationships: Chou Tzuyu/Minatozaki Sana
Comments: 11
Kudos: 77





	1. One

It's a Friday afternoon when Sana stumbles into the coffee shop, seeking refuge from the pollen outside. It's spring and while she loves all the sunshine, pretty flowers, and promises of summer break approaching fast, her allergies prevent her from enjoying the season to its fullest. She desparately needs to breathe air that isn't pollen-saturated, and heck, while she doesn't even like coffee all that much, at least it smells nice. Better than pollen.

She scans the menu, frowning when she sees that all the drinks are coffee something. No tea section, not even hot chocolate, so she resigns herself to asking the barista for a recommendation. "Is there a drink you recommend?"

The barista— _she's cute_ , Sana thinks—taps her chin thoughtfully. "If you like sweet things, you can try our mocha latte. If you want something darker I recommend the house brew."

"I'll get the latte, then." 

"Great, that'll be $4.50! Can I get your name?"

"Sana."

The barista grabs a pen and scribbles her name onto a cup. "Your order will be ready in a few minutes. Feel free to take a seat."

Sana nods at the girl before making her way to the seating area, choosing a table from which she can see the counter. The shop is nice and ambient, Sana decides, and would make a good study spot. A cup of coffee is a small price to pay for the luxury of being able to study in peace for a few hours, away from the chaos of her friends. 

Her gaze shifts to the girl behind the counter, who is busy with her drink. She's tall and slender, with cascading brown hair, and Sana can't believe she's never seen this girl around campus before. She seems like the type of girl that people (herself included) would throw themselves at. 

The barista finishes up her drink and slides it onto the counter, calling her name, and Sana gets a better look at her face, and she swears she's never seen a prettier girl before. She stands up to retrieve her drink and tries to think of a non-cringe-inducing line to introduce herself, but by the time she makes it to the counter, the barista is already at the register, tapping in another customer's order.

Mildly disappointed, Sana sits back down and pulls out her laptop, determined to stop staring at the barista and actually finish the paper that's due tonight at midnight. 

-

About four hours later, Sana reaches the end of her second drink (the barista hadn't lied, the mocha latte really was good), rattling the ice cubes against each other. She's been surprisingly productive, so she decides to reward herself with a few minutes of subtle staring at the barista, who seems to be wrapping up her shift.

As she exits the shop, the barista thanks her for her patronage, and Sana instantly decides that she's definitely coming back again to the shop to study. Definitely because the coffee was good (she doesn't even like coffee all that much) and the shop was nice and cozy, and definitely not because of the cute barista. 


	2. Two

Sana ends up coming to the shop everyday for the next few weeks, much to the chagrin of her best friend Momo, who complains that they haven't spent any time together at all lately. She ignores Momo's protests and goes to the shop anyway. 

By now, she's established herself as a regular, and Cute Barista Girl has started to ask "The usual?" instead of asking for Sana's order. She always gets the mocha latte, and she always sits at the same table from where she can watch the girl work. 

She's actually run into the girl a few times on campus now, and each time the girl nods in greeting at Sana her heart does a little pitter-patter. But Sana isn't delusional, and she knows that friendly nods and smiles don't actaully mean they're getting closer, and so one day she resolves to ask for Cute Barista Girl's name. 

\- 

Like anyone in the service industry, Tzuyu appreciates nice regular customers. She'll never admit it to Nayeon, but she's maybe a teensy bit partial to that one girl who always asks for a mocha latte. After all, she was the one who recommended that mocha latte in the first place. So Tzuyu always takes a few seconds to add in a little extra whipped cream, just for that girl, and tries not to let Nayeon's teasing get under her skin. If it weren't for the fact that Nayeon had recommended her to the manager and gotten her the job at the shop in the first place, Tzuyu's certain she would have smacked her coworker by now.

It's nearing three in the afternoon, and Tzuyu looks up at the sound of the door opening. She's gotten used to seeing the girl everyday, and today is no different.

She smiles politely at the girl. "Hi there. The usual?"

The girl smiles back and nods, pulling out her wallet to pay.

"Will that be all?"

"Uh, actually, could I, um, could I get your name?" Tzuyu pauses from tapping in the girl's order and looks at her curiously. "Sorry if that makes you uncomfortable," the girl continues hastily. "I was just wondering because I've seen you around for a bit lately. I'm Sana, by the way."

Tzuyu laughs, sweeping her hair to the side to reveal the shiny brass name tag on her apron. "I know, I get your name for your order everyday. I'm Tzuyu."

Sana visibly reddens, and she tries to reproduce Tzuyu's pronunciation of her name. "T-tzoo-yoo?"

Tzuyu hears Nayeon snigger in the back. "Uh, not quite. Tzuyu."

Sana tries again, this time with "Chew-you," and judging by the suppressed wheezing emanating from her coworker's direction, Tzuyu is sure Nayeon is having the time of her life. Somehow, Sana doesn't seem to notice Nayeon dying of laughter in the corner.

"No, Tzuyu," she grits her teeth. "T-Z-U-Y-U. Tzuyu."

"Oh okay! Chewy, got it!" Sana's face brightens so quickly that Tzuyu doesn't have the heart to tell her that she's still wrong, so she plasters a smile on her face and prints out a receipt instead. The other girl accepts it happily and skips away to her usual table, completely unaware of her mistake.

Once the girl is out of earshot, Nayeon's cackling lets loose and becomes a little louder, until the older girl is doubled over, laughing at Tzuyu.

"Nice to meet you, Chewy~!" Nayeon mimicks Sana with a surprisingly accurate high-pitched voice, and Tzuyu huffs in annoyance. "Aw, is someone mad because her favorite customer can't pronounce her name right?"

"Shut it, Nayeon." Tzuyu snaps. "And she's not my favorite customer." Her retort only serves to send Nayeon into another laughing fit, and Tzuyu chooses to tune her out this time, opting to grab a pen and start on Sana's order.

-

Sana squints at the name tag. Tzuyu. How has she never noticed it before? More importantly, how do you pronounce "Tzuyu?"

"T-tzoo-yoo," she stutters, and flushes when the girl shakes her head and smiles a little. 

"Uh, not quite. Tzuyu." Cute Barista Girl Tzuyu repeats her name, this time more slowly.

"Chew-you." Sana wants to crawl into a hole and disappear.

"No, Tzuyu," she says for the third time. "T-Z-U-Y-U. Tzuyu."

Sana decides to cut her losses and garbles out "Oh okay! Chewy, got it!" even though she _knows_ that "Chewy" is 100% not the correct pronunciation. Tzuyu hands her her receipt with a strained smile, and Sana makes a beeline for her table, glad to no longer be a stuttering fool, cowering under the stare of Chewy. Or Chew-you. Or Tzoo-yoo. Whatever.

She wonders if her acting was convincing and if Tzuyu really believes that Sana really thinks her name is "Chewy," but she only has time to cringe at her own stupidity for a few more minutes before Tzuyu calls her name and her order is waiting in its usual place on the counter. She sighs and makes her way up, avoiding eye contact with Tzuyu the entire time, although the other girl seems to be avoiding her gaze as well.

Great, Sana groans internally. Tzuyu probably hates her now. _Goodbye, all my chances with Cute Barista Girl_. She makes a mental note to go look for a new study spot tomorrow. 

But before she can trudge back to her seat, a tap on her shoulder brings her face to face with another worker, a girl with bunny teeth. In the back of her mind, Sana vaguely recalls this girl being in the background during the entire "Tzoo-yoo-Chew-you-Chewy" fiasco.

"Hey," the girl begins conversationally. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Chewy back there."

Sana groans again. "That was so embarrasing. I know Chewy isn't her name, but I just can't pronounce it right. She probably hates me now."

The girl laughs. "Don't worry about it. She was probably just shocked in the moment, but she's not the type to get hung up about that kind of stuff."

"You think?" Sana asks hopefully. "I was really starting to like this shop. Would suck if I had to find a new place because I'm too ashamed to show my face here now."

"Yeah, for sure." The girls laughs again, but this time it's a loud cackle. "I'm Nayeon, by the way."

Sana nods. She's pretty sure that she can pronounce "Nayeon" without any trouble, but the trauma is still fresh on her mind, so she holds her tongue. "Nice to meet you. I'm Sana, but you probably already know that."

Nayeon cracks a grin, patting her on the shoulder. "Nice to meet you, Sana. I have to get back to work now, but I hope I'll see you around. Don't worry about Tzuyu, really. I think she has a soft spot for you." She winks.

Sana smiles at the reassurance, feeling hopeful as Nayeon walks away. Maybe Tzuyu wasn't too upset over her name being butchered. Maybe they could start fresh. She looks down at her cup, smile faltering as she reads the writing on the sleeve.

Snaa.

Not Sana, but Snaa.

Or maybe not, Sana sighs to herself.


	3. Three

Sana keeps coming back to the shop anyway, and Tzuyu keeps spelling her name wrong on purpose. At first Sana worries that Tzuyu is actually mad over that one time (contrary to what Nayeon says), but the sixth time it happens Sana is surprised to find Tzuyu waiting for her when she comes to get her drink. 

"Uh, hi." Sana smiles awkwardly at Tzuyu, and out of the corner of her eye, Sana sees Nayeon lurking nearby, listening in.

"Hey." Tzuyu smiles back, and it's so cute that Sana decides right then and there that risking another round of mortification is worth it if she can talk to Tzuyu.

"So, um, sorry about the other day. I know your name isn't Chewy," She pauses when Tzuyu winces at the name. "But I was really struggling with it. Not my greatest moment. I can pronounce it now, though," she quickly amends.

Tzuyu just laughs and brushes it off. "I know, Nayeon told me. And I'm sorry for misspelling your name. Just wanted to tease you for a bit."

Sana giggles in relief. "I have to admit, it was pretty funny."

"Good to know," Tzuyu smirks, and that's the end of their conversation that day. But Sana doesn't care, she's over the moon right now because finally, _finally_ , she has had an actual (albeit short) conversation with Tzuyu.

-

Sana's days are considerably better now, and she knows it's because of Tzuyu. They've gone from politely smiling at each other to asking "How are you today?" to making small talk when there aren't any customers waiting in line, and Sana thrives off of these small, friendly interactions.

Eventually, Momo has finally had enough of Sana running off to some coffee shop without her (her best friend doesn't even like coffee, what the heck?) and forces Sana to bring her to the shop so she can meet this Tzuyu girl that Sana has been non-stop blabbering about. Sana complains all the way there, but the moment she steps into the shop she brightens up at the sight of Tzuyu, and Momo's annoying presence is long forgotten. The change doesn't go unnoticed by Momo, who narrows her eyes in suspicion, but when she sees Sana beaming up at the tall girl at the counter (who she assumes is Tzuyu), she finally understands.

It's spring for Minatozaki Sana. Her best friend is in love, and Momo's not quite sure if Sana knows that herself, but she's radiating so brilliantly that _how can she not be?_

She watches as Sana waltzes up to Tzuyu, as they exchange pleasantries and smile at each other, as they fall into a routine that exists only between the two of them. 

Momo thinks that people in love are beautiful.

\- 

"You like her, don't you?"

Sana chokes on her drink at Momo's sudden suggestion, spluttering wordlessly for a bit before she can think of a response. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Her friend smirks. "Don't lie to me. I saw the way you looked at her."

Sana doesn't respond, and Momo takes her silence as acceptance. "You guys have known each other for what, five weeks? She seems to like you enough, go ask her out or something."

"It's not that simple," Sana whines. "We've only ever talked to each other when she's working. I don't even have her number."

Momo shoots her an incredulous look. "Look, you guys have been talking for so long that it would be totally normal if you just went up and asked to hang out sometime. Keep waiting for too long and you'll be a grandma by the time anything happens. Or worse," she jerks her chin at a male student who is up at the register, talking to Tzuyu. "Someone else comes along."

\- 

_Someone else comes along._

Momo's words echo and bounce around in Sana's mind for a few days, and she hates the fact that it bothers her more than it should. It bothers her to the point that both Nayeon and Tzuyu notice, so Tzuyu stops her when she pulls out her card to pay one day.

"It's on the house."

"What? Why?"

Tzuyu shrugs. "You seem down. It's the least I can do for a regular like you." She winks as she says "like you" and it makes Sana freeze up on the spot. 

_It's now or never_ , Sana thinks, and she attempts to flirt back. "Are you this nice to other girls?" She tries to wink but it comes out as a blink instead and immediately after she speaks Sana wants to curl up and hide. She should have chosen never.

If Tzuyu notices, she doesn't say anything _thankfully_ and just laughs and says, "No, just you," and suddenly Sana isn't so worried anymore. 


	4. Four

Another Friday rolls around and Sana (god bless her poor sinuses) stumbles into the shop, aggresively inhaling the pollen-free air and sniffling. She stops when she notices Nayeon staring at her from behind the register, no Tzuyu in sight.

"Where's Tzuyu?"

Nayeon waves her hand towards the back of the shop, out of Sana's sight. "She's in the back, learning how to do latte art."

As if on cue, Tzuyu's head pops out of the back room into view and she smiles at Sana before calling to Nayeon. "Come look at what we've made." Two other heads appear below Tzuyu—a small black-haired girl with a mole underneath her lip, and a cheery blonde that Sana recognizes as Kim Dahyun, one of Momo's friends.

Dahyun waves at Sana. "Sana! It's been a while!"

"Hey Dahyun! Good to see you again!"

"You know each other?" Tzuyu is looking curiously at them. 

Sana nods. "We met through Momo."

Tzuyu thinks for a moment. "The girl who came here with you last time?"

"Yeah, my best friend."

"Enough chit chat, losers!" Nayeon cackles as she herds the three girls out of the back room. "Let's have Sana take a look at your art. You don't mind, do you?" She cocks her head at Sana, who shakes her head vigorously.

"I'd be happy to."

"Great!" Nayeon lets out another obnoxious laugh before they sit down at Sana's usual table.

-

"Bro." Chaeyoung elbows Tzuyu. "You totally like her."

"Shut up," Tzuyu huffs. "I do not."

"Then why are you glaring at Dahyun and Sana?"

"I'm not glaring. I'm observing."

"Observing angrily." 

Tzuyu chooses not to respond. She squints (angrily) at the espresso before her, trying to pour milk out evenly into a rosetta design. It comes out looking like a puddle more than anything, and Chaeyoung snickers.

"Do it more slowly. Like this." Chaeyoung holds the pitcher of steamed milk with a steady hand and tilts the cup back and forth patiently, watching as a zig-zagging pattern appears across the foam. Tzuyu nods and is about to try again when a breathy giggle floats from across the room. She looks up to see Sana and Dahyun, huddled closely together at Sana's usual table, laughing at a joke Dahyun cracked. Tzuyu frowns at them from her spot behind the counter.

"Totally not glaring." Tzuyu shifts her line of sight to glare at Chaeyoung instead, who is smiling at her smugly from across the counter.

"Chaeyoung is right, you know." Nayeon says in a sing-songy voice, and Tzuyu commits herself to glaring at her too. "Just ask Sana out already."

Tzuyu stiffens and opens her mouth, but a new customer steps in and she's saved from having to respond.

-

Two hours later, Tzuyu decides that latte art is something she should never attempt ever again in her life. Period. 

She's the one closing up today, because Nayeon is leaving early with Chaeyoung and Dahyun.

"I'll be going now. Promised Dumb and Dumber that I'd take them out for dinner." Nayeon jabs her thumb towards the two other girls, who promptly begin to argue over who is Dumb and who is Dumber. Tzuyu kicks all three of them out to get them to stop arguing, leaving her alone with Sana. And a few other patrons in the shop, but Sana is the only one who matters, anyway.

She continues to practice her latte art, but you can only waste so much coffee before the manager gets mad at you, so on her forty-seventh trial run, she decides that it'll be the last one for the day. And probably forever. 

Nevertheless, because Tzuyu is a perfectionist and _goddamn it why can't she get it right_ she insists on trying to recreate the elegant leaf-like pattern that Chaeyoung has demonstrated a billion times before. It doesn't help that Sana is no longer sitting at her usual table in the corner, but on a bar stool right up at the counter, with a front row view of Tzuyu fumbling around. 

But Sana's presence only serves to make her more determined than ever to finally, finally get it right. And so she tries her best, and then both Sana and her hover over the cup, examining the espresso. The minute Tzuyu sees it, she feels the earth open up and swallow her into its depths. But of course that doesn't really happen, and what actually happens is Sana saying "wow" awkwardly before trailing off for lack of simply anything else to say.

The art is better, Tzuyu supposes, in some ways.

It's definitely got a more elongated shape instead of the previously amorphous blobs. And there's some semblance of the two leaves on the side, curling upwards towards the stem in the center. But her creation has the misfortune of looking undeniably like a poorly drawn dick, and Tzuyu has the misfortune of Sana bearing witness to her embarrasing failure.

They both gawp at it for a while, before Tzuyu grabs the cup wordlessly and tosses the contents down the drain. She stares at Sana, eyes unwavering, but nothing can hide the blush that slowly creeps its way up from her neck to the tips of her ears, setting her face aflame. "We will never speak about this. Ever."

 _Cute_ , Sana thinks, but she doesn't say anything and just nods in response and Tzuyu sighs, resigning herself to a life of art-less lattes. 


	5. Five

As much as she struggles, and as much as she wants to forget about latte art after her unfortunate dick latte, Tzuyu is a diligent student and continues to practice. Eventually, it finally just clicks, and now Tzuyu can create all the rosettas and leaves she wants. In fact, she's since moved on to etching designs directly onto the surface of the coffee itself with a metal pick. 

She's in the middle of googling "easy latte art drawing for beginners" when the bells on the door jingle and Myoui Mina strolls in. They've always been close friends, and out of everyone in their friend group, Tzuyu thinks she's the closest with Mina. So when Mina cutely requests for a penguin to be drawn on her coffee, Tzuyu happily obliges (and quickly switches her google search to "how to draw a penguin").

The penguin isn't as hard to draw as she expects, and the coffee is in Mina's hands before ten minutes are up. There aren't any other customers at the moment, so Tzuyu fixes herself a drink and leans over the counter to talk to Mina, enjoying her company. 

\- 

Sana isn't thrilled to be sitting off to the side, watching Myoui Mina and Tzuyu joke around and smile at each other. She had walked into the coffee shop earlier, finding Tzuyu leaning on the counter, chatting happily with a girl she recognized as Mina, another one of Momo's friends (why does Momo know so many people?). Her jealousy had gotten the better of her and she had decided to sit on one of the cushioned barstools up at the counter instead of her usual corner table, just to be closer to Tzuyu, although she now regrets having to sit through Tzuyu and Mina's flirting.

It's not like she and Tzuyu are dating or exclusive to each other, and it doesn't really seem like Mina and Tzuyu are actually flirting, but the normally sweet mocha latte leaves a sour taste in her mouth as she watches them, and Momo's words from two weeks ago come back to haunt her for a brief moment. 

But she pushes the thought aside and tries to focus on her laptop. It works for a bit, and the clacking of her keys as she types away is the only thing she can hear for a while, Tzuyu and Mina's voices blending into background noise. 

She stirs her drink absentmindedly every so often, and she's so absorbed in her work that she doesn't notice when Mina finally leaves and it's just her and Tzuyu (finally!) and Tzuyu is waving her hand in front of Sana's eyes, trying to get her attention. 

"Sana!"

"Yes? Sorry, I spaced out."

Tzuyu laughs, and _nothing in this world is better than hearing Tzuyu laugh_ , Sana thinks. Sana is suddenly aware that she's falling deeper and deeper for Tzuyu, much like a childhood crush that never quite goes away, and once again Momo's words echo in her mind, urging her to take the next step.

"Can I get you anything else? Your drink is empty." Tzuyu points to the cup beside her.

"Can I get something as sweet as you?"

It slips out on accident, and Sana immediately clamps her hand over her mouth and shuts the fuck up as if she hasn't just blurted out the world's cheesiest pick up line.

She's pretty sure she can hear Nayeon snickering from the back room. 

It takes about ten seconds of courage (coming from who knows where) to say the line, but waiting for Tzuyu to respond feels like forever. The taller girl is frozen as she gapes at Sana, struggling to form a single coherent sentence while Sana is struggling not to scream in embarrassment and repeatedly smash her head against the wall.

"Uh." Tzuyu says very eloquently. "Sure."

Sana fiddles with her fingers. "A-and what would that be?"

"Uh." Once again, Tzuyu's brain supplies her with an overwhelmingly articulate response. "Me."

They're shaken out of their reverie by Nayeon fiercely whispering something that sounds like _I cannot fucking believe_ , and time starts to flow normally again.

Sana smiles softly at Tzuyu, but with a little more confidence this time. "I'd like that."

Tzuyu turns a bright shade of pink and busies herself with making a drink for no one in particular, too shy to look at Sana.

Later, she slides Sana another latte, on the house, but this time with a cute heart drawn on it, along with a napkin that has a number and a message scribbled on. _My shift ends in an hour—want to get dinner?_

Sana's careful not to wipe anything on the napkin as she waits for Tzuyu's shift to end. She swings her legs happily, and Nayeon's friendly teasing and quips of "Congrats, losers!" and "Only took you guys like ten years" fly over her head. She savors every sip, trying not to ruin the chocolate heart until it can no longer be helped. Sana's never liked coffee all that much before, but this is _Tzuyu's coffee_ , and it's perfect.


End file.
